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CNN Live Today
Kurds Flee to Northern Iraq
Aired March 20, 2003 - 12:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZHAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to take you to Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq where we understand as many as 200,000 ethnic Kurds are on the move to try to reach rural areas in the fear of some obviously increased military action there. That's exactly where we find our own Ben Wedeman keeping watch from one of the world's oldest continually settled towns, Erbil.
Ben, describe to us what you're seeing now, and what you might have seen earlier in the day.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Paula, regarding that movement of Kurds in the north, we've seen that over the last few days as people have really moved away from the front lines, moved out of the cities.
There is a real palpable fear among Kurds that the Iraqis will use chemical weapons upon them. That goes back to the 1998 attack on Halabja, the Kurdish town where 5,000 civilians were killed in a chemical weapons attack. So that exodus continues here in Erbil -- streets relatively quiet -- most shops are closed.
As far as the actual northern front goes, it is relatively quiet. There was no American bombing of Iraqi targets in the front lines, not far from here. We spent most of the night and much of the morning in a Kurdish fortress that faces the Iraqi front lines. There was some sporadic gunfire. We did at one point have to scramble for cover, but by and large the Kurdish officers are just keeping a very close eye on those Iraqi lines, waiting for possible hostile action, or as many of them expect, a sudden surrender by Iraqi soldiers who don't appear to be in the highest of morale.
Now, despite the quiet, this could all change very dramatically and very soon now that the Turkish Parliament has approved American overflights into northern Iraq. At the moment the American presence is very modest indeed. There is a very small and very camera-shy group of American special forces here. But, according to Kurdish officials, they are expecting as many as 5,000 American troops to fly in here fairly soon, in fact.
Now they would be supplementing about 70,000 lightly armed, but very enthusiastic Kurdish fighters. The Americans, we are told -- their goal in the north will be to secure the oil fields around the major Saddam Hussein-controlled cities of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kirkuk.
Now of course, there's one new complication here, and that is that when the Turkish Parliament approved the overflights, they also approved the entry of Turkish forces into northern Iraq. Now the Turks want to avoid a flow of refugees into Turkey that occurred, for instance, after the 1991 Gulf War. But the Kurds have said they will not welcome any Turkish presence here. They've said that they are willing to take up arms against the Turks if they do enter, and we have seen in recent days a movement of Kurdish troops towards the Turkish border.
Now one small footnote. Today is New Year's Eve for the Kurds. Tomorrow is Nawrouz -- it is a holiday that the Kurds mark in history saying that that was the day that they overthrew a bloody tyrant. Paula?
ZAHN: Well I guess that remains to be seen. We clearly know Ben Wedeman, from what secretary of defense Rumsfeld told us, there is a lot more to come. He said that what we will see unfold is unlike anything we've ever seen before.
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Aired March 20, 2003 - 12:17 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
PAULA ZHAN, CNN ANCHOR: Now we're going to take you to Kurdish controlled Northern Iraq where we understand as many as 200,000 ethnic Kurds are on the move to try to reach rural areas in the fear of some obviously increased military action there. That's exactly where we find our own Ben Wedeman keeping watch from one of the world's oldest continually settled towns, Erbil.
Ben, describe to us what you're seeing now, and what you might have seen earlier in the day.
BEN WEDEMAN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Paula, regarding that movement of Kurds in the north, we've seen that over the last few days as people have really moved away from the front lines, moved out of the cities.
There is a real palpable fear among Kurds that the Iraqis will use chemical weapons upon them. That goes back to the 1998 attack on Halabja, the Kurdish town where 5,000 civilians were killed in a chemical weapons attack. So that exodus continues here in Erbil -- streets relatively quiet -- most shops are closed.
As far as the actual northern front goes, it is relatively quiet. There was no American bombing of Iraqi targets in the front lines, not far from here. We spent most of the night and much of the morning in a Kurdish fortress that faces the Iraqi front lines. There was some sporadic gunfire. We did at one point have to scramble for cover, but by and large the Kurdish officers are just keeping a very close eye on those Iraqi lines, waiting for possible hostile action, or as many of them expect, a sudden surrender by Iraqi soldiers who don't appear to be in the highest of morale.
Now, despite the quiet, this could all change very dramatically and very soon now that the Turkish Parliament has approved American overflights into northern Iraq. At the moment the American presence is very modest indeed. There is a very small and very camera-shy group of American special forces here. But, according to Kurdish officials, they are expecting as many as 5,000 American troops to fly in here fairly soon, in fact.
Now they would be supplementing about 70,000 lightly armed, but very enthusiastic Kurdish fighters. The Americans, we are told -- their goal in the north will be to secure the oil fields around the major Saddam Hussein-controlled cities of (UNINTELLIGIBLE) Kirkuk.
Now of course, there's one new complication here, and that is that when the Turkish Parliament approved the overflights, they also approved the entry of Turkish forces into northern Iraq. Now the Turks want to avoid a flow of refugees into Turkey that occurred, for instance, after the 1991 Gulf War. But the Kurds have said they will not welcome any Turkish presence here. They've said that they are willing to take up arms against the Turks if they do enter, and we have seen in recent days a movement of Kurdish troops towards the Turkish border.
Now one small footnote. Today is New Year's Eve for the Kurds. Tomorrow is Nawrouz -- it is a holiday that the Kurds mark in history saying that that was the day that they overthrew a bloody tyrant. Paula?
ZAHN: Well I guess that remains to be seen. We clearly know Ben Wedeman, from what secretary of defense Rumsfeld told us, there is a lot more to come. He said that what we will see unfold is unlike anything we've ever seen before.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
